NATURAL HISTORY

6<)5

the plants! that grow around. Many trees bear fleshy fruits ofthe berry "or apple kind, which, being secure from the attack ofcattle, grove ripe for the use of man and other animals, while theirseeds are dispersed after digestion. Lastly, the particular structureof trees contributes much to the propagation of insects; for thesechiefly lay their eggs upon the leaves, where they are secure fromthe reach of cattle. The preservation of grasses is abundantly evi-dent from hence, that the more the leaves of the perennial grassesare eat, the more they creep by the roots, and send forth offsets.For the Author of nature intended that vegetables of this kind,which have very slender and erect leaves, should be copious, andvery thick set, covering the ground like a carpet; and thus affordfood sufficient for so vast a quantity of grazing animals. But al-though tlie grasses are the principal food of such animals, yet theydo not touch the tlower and seed-bearing stums, that the seeds mayripen and be sown. The caterpillar or grub of the moth, althoughit feeds upon grasses, to the great destruction of them in meadows,yet it seems to be formed in order to keep a due portion betweenthese and oilier plants ; for grasses, when left to grow freely, in-crease to that degree, that they exclude all other plants ; whichwould consequently be extirpated, unless this insect sometimesprepared a place lor them. Hence always more species of plantsappear in those places where this caterpillar has laid waste the pas-tures the preceding year than at any other time.

III. Destruction. All plants, as well as animals, must sub-mit to death. They spring up, grow, flourish, ripen their fruit,wither, and at last die, and return to the dust. Thus all blackmould, which everywhere covers the earth, is mostly owing todead vegetables. For all roots descend into the sand by theirbranches, and after a plant has lost its stem the root remains; butthis too rots at last, and changes into mould. Thus this kind ofearth is mixed with sand, nearly in the same way as dung thrownupon fields is wrought into the earth by the industry of the hus-bandman. The earth thus prepared returns again to plants whatit has received from them. For when seeds are committed to theearth, they draw to themselves the more subtile parts of thismould, by the co-operation of the sun, air, and rains; so that thetallest tree is nothing but mould compounded with air and water,and modified by a virtue communicated to a small seed by theCreator. From these plants, when they die, the same kind ofmould is formed as gave birth to them originally; whence ferti-lity remains uninterrupted. The crustaceous liverworts are thefoundation of vegetation ; therefore are plants of the utmost con-sequence in the (economy of nature, though despised by us.'When roi lvs first emerge out of the sea, they are so polished bythe foi'ce of the waves, that scr.rcely.any herb can find a fixed habi-tation upon them; as we may observe every where near the sea.But the very minute crustaceous liverworts begin soon to coverthese dry rocks, allhough they have no other nourishment but thatsmall quantity of mould and imperceptible particles which the rainand air bring thither. These liverworts (Ling turn into a very fineearth ; on this earth the imbricated liverworts fine a bed to striketheir roots in. These also die after a time, and turn to mould; andthen the various kinds ot mo-ses, e.g. the hypna, the brya, and poly-tricha, find a proper place and nourishment. Lastly, these dyingin their turn, and rottuig, afford such plenty of new-tormed muuld,that herbs and shrubs easily root and live upon it.

Of the Animal Kingdom.

T. Propagation. The generation of animals holds the firstplace among the works of the Creator; and chiefly that appoint-ment bv which lie has regulated the conception ot the t(etus, andits exclusion, that it should be adapted to the wav of living ofeach animal. No species of animals are exempt from the passionof love, that the Creator’s mandate may be fulfilled, Increase andMultiply ; and that tints the egg, in which is contained the rudi-ment of the foitus, may he fecundated. Foxes and wolves, underthis impulse, every where howl in the woods; crowds of dogs fol-low the female. Stags have annually' new horns which they ioseafter rutting time. Birds look more beautiful than ordinary, andwarble all day long through fondness. Peacocks spread torihtheir gay ami glorious trains. Fishes exult in the water; andgrashoppers chirp among the herbs. The fecundated egg requiresa certain proportionate degree ol heat for the expansion of the em-btyo; and therefore we find in different classes of animals a dif-

ferent way of excluding the fetus. The females of'quadrupedshave an uterus, for easy gestation, cherishing warmth, and propernourishment of the foetus. Birds, to get subsistence, are under thenecessity of shifting place, by their wings. Gestation thereforewould be burthensome to them. For this reason they lay eggscovered with a hard shell. These they sit upon and cherish tillthe young come forth. The ostrich and cassowary are almost theonly birds that do not observe this law ; these commit their eggs tothe sand, where the intense heat of the sun cherish.es and excludesthe fetus. Fishes inhabit cold waters, and most of them havecold blood: whence they have not heat sufficient to produce thefetus. The allwise Creator therefore has ordained, that mo.-t ofthem should lay their eggs near the shore; where by the solar rays,the water is warmer, and because water-insects abound there,which afford the young fry nourishment. Salmon, w hen about tolay their eggs, go up the stream, where the water is fresh and morepure. 'The fish of the ocean, which cannot reach the shores byereason of the distance, are exempt from this law. The Author ofnature has given to this kind eggs that swim; so that they arehatched amidst the swimming fucus, called sargazo. (Flor. Zeyl.389.) 'The cetaceous fish, have warm blood ; and therefore theybring.forth their young alive, and , suckle them w ith their teats.The butterfly fish also brings forth its fetus alive. Many amphi-bious animats bring forth live fetuses, as the viper and the toaci,&c. But all the species that lay eggs lay them in places wherethe heat of the sun supplies the warmth of the parent. Thus therest of the frog and lizard kind, lay their eggs in warm waters ; thecommon snake, in dunghills, and such like warm places. 'Thecrocodile and sea-tortoises lay their eggs under the sand, wherethe heat of the sun hate lies them. Most insects neither bear voiingnor hatch eggs; yet their tribes are the most numerous of all livingcreatures. If the bulk of their bodies were proportionate to theirnumbers, they would scarcely leave room for any other kinds ofanimals. The females meet and copulate with the males; andafterwards lay their eggs, in such places as may supply their off-spring with nourishment, for the mother dies soon after she h ;slaid her eggs. Butterflies, moths, some beetles, weevils, bwrvcuckow-spit-insects, gall-insec ts, tree-bugs, &c. lav their eirgs onthe leaves of plants, and every different tribe chooses its ownspecies. There is scarcely any plant w hich does not afford nourish-ment to some insect ; and there is scarcely any part of a plantwhich is not preferred by some of them. 'Thus one insect feedsupon the flower; another upon the trunk, root, or leaves. Theleaves of some trees and plants, after eggs have been let into them,grow into galls; and form dwellings for the young ones. Thuswhen the gall-insect has fixed her eggs in the leaves^of an oak, thewound of the leaf swells, and a knob like an apple aiises, whichincludes and nourishes the embryo. The multiplication of ani-mals is not tied down to the same rules in all; for some have a re-markable power of propagating, others are confined within nar-row limits. Yet in general we find, that the leastymimals, andthose which are useful and serve for nourishment to the Greatestnumber of other animals, are endued w ith a greater power of pro-pagating than olhers. Mites, and many other insects, will multiplyto a thousand within the compass of a very few days; while theelephant scarcely produces one young in two years. The hawkkind generally lay not above two eggs, at most four; while thepoultry produce from 50 to 100. The diver, or loon, which iseaten by few animals, lays also two eggs ; but chicks, moor-fowls,partridges, &c. and small birds, lay a very large number. It twopigeons batch nine times a-year, they may produce in four years14,760 young. They are endued with this remarkable fertility,that they may serve for food, not only for man, but for birds ofprey.

II. Preservation appears chiefly in the tender age, while thevoting are unable to provide for their own support. For then thehrparents, (hough otherwise ever so fierce in their disposition, aremoved with a wonderful affection towards their progeny, and spareno pains to provide for, guard, and preserve I Item'. Quadrupedsgive suck to their lender young, and support them by a hoimr per-fectly easy of digestion, till they be able to dig- st what is more-solid. Their love toward them is so great, that they code: vour !o re-pel with the ul most force every thing which threatens dancer to them.'The ewe, which brings forth two iambs at a lime, will not admitone to her teats unless the other be present and suck also. Birds